Early potatoes - how early do you plant yours?

[iam]

always try to keep the leaves covered with soil till frost has past if caught out spray with cold water and shade with newspaper (to stop sun burning them) black poly can be used but I think it is safer to allow the air to get through them as well

[cptncrackoff]

It's too cold here.
Normally I'd like to think that here we are usually a bit ahead of 'inland, and up north' but these constant east/north easterly winds are really pinning us back temp wise.
The farmers say 'its too cold to put potatoes in' so I'll hold off, i'd like to think by around April 20th most of mine will be in... hopefully!

[iam]

I have planted out 1st. and 2nd. earlys today after having the bed covered with black weed suppressing membrane for the past week cut X in membrane and planted potatoes six inches deep then covered the area with fleece. Have never tried planting potatoes this way before but will let you know how they get on

[CaroltheCarrot]

No chance of mine going in for another few weeks yet

[phil the shed]

well i'm 6 weeks behind with my greenhouse bags and yesterday i planted up at the allotment one month behind.
spent last week prepping beds and covering them to warm up
soil over 6 degrees at 8pm so planted yesterday afternoon and put the covers back on for a warm up
phil

[SlugLobber]

The bed is ready in theory, but I've left mine chitting, as it's still well below zero at night and around zero during the day! I've been close to tears with painful hands, so pretty sure the spuds won't like it! Might put them in this weekend and mulch up with used straw bedding from the stables. My yard manager is loving me at the moment.

[shona_b]

I am hoping to put the earlies in tomorrow if it isn't as cold as it has been. Got some maure to top them off with to try to keep the frost off. I had planned this task for the pre-easter week but those days off ended up being so cold I was stuck on the sofa flicking though the garden mags instead!

[Madasafish]

Still have snow drifts in garden and -2 to -5C at night.

Even my greenhouse earlies are sulking.

No chance of outside planting for at least two weeks.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Here in Nottm we are supposed to have a frost free period of 5 nights starting Sunday. This will give me chance to plant up the dustbins, after that it will be a case of 'lids on' at the first sign of frost.

Potty

[Thelma Sanders]

To give you an idea an old boy left his allotment late last year and left all his potatoes in the ground, it looks like someone took the plot on and dug some up at the weekend and not a single potato had any shoots on them at all.

The ones I dug up showed that the eyes were barely starting to break. Hope to get them in next week as it's forecast to warm up by a few degrees

[SeleneMourie]

I've folded.... half of the potatoes got put in today :/

[alldigging]

I've planted the ones Samurailord gave me today! I've just looked at the ones indoors and they only have tiny chits!

[buzzingtalk]

I planted both today - I had some that had been chitting since feb and had good growth on them. but also planted my non chitted spuds, sort of as a experiment but also out of frustration at wanting something to do.

[kathyd]

My outdoor ones went in yesterday, so I'm fully expecting snow and hail again now. The maincrop destined for dustbin planting will go in this week, provided the shop's re-stocked with dustbins .

[BUFFS]

i put my tatties in 1/2 dustbins on friday,in 12ins of compost bin contents,really good looking stuff,but have not watered them yet as the nights are still really icy,about 3-4ins of black loam on top to insulate them til it starts raining,then we will know summer is here,have to prepare for the handful of salad blue tatties due to arrive in a few days,growing them for the local show...